A team of villains seize control of a high-rise centrally located within the confines of a major city in “Cleaner.” They’ve captured the wealthy group of dignitaries gathered onsite for an extravagant gala, possess their requisite list of demands, and stand ready to make good on a horrific act of violence was that list to be ignored, but there’s one thing they didn’t expect: someone on the inside, ready to do what they can to stop them in their tracks and save the proverbial day. The premise of “Die Hard 6: Die Hardest,” perhaps?
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There’s nothing unique about the setup of “Cleaner,” the film actually described above, and the latest from Martin Campbell, fourteen years removed from the trainwreck that propelled him into director’s jail, “Green Lantern,” during which time his scattershot efforts, most recently 2022’s Liam Neeson actioner “Memory,” largely flew beneath the radar.
By borrowing liberally from decades’ worth of predecessors, copycats, and the best parts of the more recent “Has Fallen” franchise, has Campbell somehow managed to produce something both happily familiar as much as it should necessarily be different?
Let’s start from the beginning. As a child, a girl named Joey has witnessed the oft-cruel treatment her autistic brother Michael has had to endure at the hands of their parents. As adults, her role as Michael’s (Matthew Tuck as an adult) caregiver now sees her frequently in the throes of frustration with the brilliant young man newly expelled from his school, resulting in Joey (Daisy Ridley as the adult version) being late for work with Michael in tow. As the title suggests, her job is that of a window cleaner. On this particular day, the heads of a dominant energy corporation,
Geoffrey and Gerald Milton (Rufus Jones and Lee Boardman, respectively) plan to celebrate their success with a lavish celebration, complete with all the champagne and Cirque du Soleil performances one can imagine. Whether it comes as a surprise or not, the masks of the performers hide a far more sinister identity, and after unleashing a payload of gas meant to render much of those in attendance unconscious, the reveal that they’re protestors quickly comes to light upset over illegal dumping orchestrated by the Miltons, they may not be criminals, but nonetheless wish for the destruction of the brothers’ energy conglomerate, the ruin of the Milton name, and a wealth of one-liners delivered as suave as predicted by the group’s leader, here portrayed by the still-underrated Clive Owen.
However, with Joey on the clock, clinging to a piece of scaffolding as the melee unfolds and with Michael trapped inside, it’s up to her, armed with little more than her wits, military background, and approximately eighty minutes before she’s able to enter and follow in the (bare) footsteps of Bruce Willis’ John McClane. Will she succeed? By this point, and with only a dash of movie remaining, the path to the finish should be easy to follow; sticking to a formula is as predictable as half a century of action has taught us, even utilizing references with little to disguise the source.
The mutiny towards the end of “The Rock?” A moment that recalls “True Lies?” Scenes that, oddly, further steal from the conclusion of “The Rock” and even take two instances to spoil key plotlines in “Avengers: Endgame?” What about John McClane’s relationship with Sergeant Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson)? Even that’s copy-pasted from “Die Hard.” However, through it all, every cast member has an unusual amount of dedication, with an unexpected twist at approximately the halfway mark revealing some interesting deception from the film’s marketing. Yes, there are some well-shot fights, even some decent use of weaponry to further ramp up the intensity a bit, but for a movie that wears its action ancestry fully displayed on its sleeve, more was expected.
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Beyond the familiar, it’s not a complete loss. The skyscraper setting makes for some hilarious moments, such as a first-act accidental sponge drop while Joey’s on the job that practically screams for a “Galaga”-esque sound effect, and an explosive detonator later in the film might be one of the more interesting uses of a snap bracelet ever seen. As fun as these might be, they’re over in an instant, much like the film itself, a romp through a genre begging for something new, of which “Cleaner” is not. [B-]